


The King on the Ice Mountain

by eleanorandtahani



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Barry is basically a Norwegian version of Cinderella, Fairy Tale Style, Leonard still has the cold gun, M/M, Mick Rory is mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 17:35:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12989022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eleanorandtahani/pseuds/eleanorandtahani
Summary: King Leonard devised a challenge for his realm; anyone who could reach the top of his mountain of ice and take the three golden apples from his would have half of his kingdom- and his hand.A Coldflash AU of the Maid on the Glass Mountain





	The King on the Ice Mountain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moriavis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moriavis/gifts).



> Happy holidays, Moriavis! I hope you enjoy this story!  
> This is a Coldflash adaptation of a Norwegian folklore story called the Maid on the Glass Mountain. It was one of my favorite stories growing up, and I'm very excited to share this version of it.  
> I stayed true to the writing style, the plot, and kept a few lines from the original story, but, if anyone has heard the story before, there are differences to look forward to.

Once upon a time, there was a farmer who lived high up in the hills. 

 

He had a hayloft where he stored his hay, however there had not been much in the hayloft for the last year or two. Every Midsummer Night, when the grass was luscious and green, the meadow was trodden down to the very ground. It looked as if a stampede had ran through there overnight. 

 

It happened twice before the farmer knew something had to be done- his family would be at risk if the meadow never produced hay again. So, he said to his three sons that one of them must go watch the field during Midsummer Night to see what was destroying their crops. He told them that whoever went must keep a sharp lookout.

 

The eldest son, Eobard, decided that it must be he who would watch the field. He declared that he would watch the meadow so well that neither man nor beast nor the Devil himself would touch a single blade of grass. 

 

However, in the middle of night, he was awakened when the entire hayloft shook, and the rumbling made the lad jump up and run from the meadow as fast as his feet could carry him. He did not look back, and the grass was destroyed for the third year in a row.

 

The next Midsummer Night, the farmer demanded that another of his sons must go watch the hayfield, as it would never do to lose all of the grass yet again. He left the decision to his sons, and only asked that whoever watched it would watch it well.

 

The next eldest son, Hunter, felt it was his turn to try his luck. So, he went to the field and lay to sleep exactly as his brother had done. As the night wore on, the earth began to quake, even worse than it had the last Midsummer Night. The frightened lad heard this and ran faster than he could if he were being paid to run.

 

Next year, the only son who had yet to brave the meadow on Midsummer Night was Barry, who was unaffectionately nicknamed Cinderlad by his older brothers, for Barry preferred the company of a book and the fire over all else.

 

When he was preparing to leave, the other two laughed and mocked him.

 

“Sure, sure, you’re going to watch the hay,” they said. “Cinderlad, you’ve done nothing your whole life other than sit in the ashes and toast yourself by the fire.”

 

Barry didn’t care a pin about what they said. He strolled to the hayfield, and lay down to sleep. When the rumbling and thumping grew till the hayloft shook as if there was an earthquake, he stood his ground.

 

“Well, if it doesn’t get any worse, I think I can bear it,” thought Barry to himself.

 

Shortly after, the quake became so strong that hay and straw flew through the air, but Barry refused to budge.

 

“This isn’t too bad, I can bear this,” he thought.

 

Then, the quake was so strong that the lad thought the walls and roof would surely fall down onto his head. But, suddenly, everything was as still as death.

 

Barry waited, wondering if the quake would return, but it did not. The world was still again, and it stayed still. He laid back down, until he heard a noise outside.

 

He hurried to the door, and peeked through to see what was out there. It was a blur, in the shape of a man, something which Barry had never seen before. 

 

“Oh, so this is what destroys our hay! I’ll stop it, just see if I don’t,” he thought.

 

Barry approached it from behind, and reached out to touch the blur. 

 

It turned and fell still. It was not a man, but merely a suit of bright copper armor, grand enough to be fit for a knight. 

 

Out of curiosity, Barry tried on the armor, and found that he could move fast enough to shake the earth. He ran to a place high in the mountains which only he knew of, and there he hid the armor.

 

When he came home, his brothers laughed. Eobard said, “There’s no way you stayed long in the hayloft, I doubt you even had the heart to go to the field.”

 

“I stayed in the hayloft until the sun rose, and I didn’t see or hear anything,” Barry said. “I have no idea what could have made both of you so afraid.”

 

“Oh, sure, we’ll see exactly how well you watched the field,” said Hunter.

 

However, when they arrived at the field, the grass stood just as high and thick as it had been the day before.

 

History repeated itself the next Midsummer Night. Neither Eobard or Hunter dared to watch the crop, but Barry had the heart to go and everything happened just as it had the year before. The earth shook three times, each worse than the last and much worse than the previous year, until the world stood still again. The lad heard a noise again outside the barn door, and went to investigate the new nuisance attempting to destroy his family’s crops.

 

He found another blur, but when he approached, he found that it was a suit of silver armor, as shiny and grand as anyone could possibly see. It possessed the same abilities as the one before, if not even faster. Barry hid it with the other one before returning home.

 

Certain that Barry had simply lucked out the earlier year, Hunter remarked, “How pretty the field must look today!”

 

“With someone as brave as our Cinderlad protecting it,” Eobard replied, “how could it not be?”

 

“Yes, it is,” said Barry.

 

They ran off to see, and while the grass stood as thick and high as the day before, the brothers didn’t giver Barry any kinder words for that.

 

The year passed, and, when the third Midsummer came, the two elders sons still did not have the courage to lie out in the hayloft for they could not get over their fright. But Barry dared to go. The same thing happened yet again. Three quakes came, each worse than the other before it, until the lad was being thrown from wall to wall during the last quake. Then, after awhile, it was as still as death.

 

Barry laid for a little while, and then he heard something in the grass outside of the barn. When he peaked out the door, he saw a third blur. When he touched it and it became still, he found another suit, grander that the ones before, which possessed the same abilities. He hid it with the rest, and then returned home.

 

His two brothers made fun of him as they had before, saying that he must have watched the grass well for he looked as if he was still walking in his sleep. But Barry paid them no heed, and told them to go see for themselves.

 

They found the grass standing as tall and fine as it had before.

 

Across the kingdom, the king of the country had grown lonely. He had the company of his sister, the princess, and his loyal best friend and advisor, but he wanted to find the person who would stand by side and love him like no other had. To find the perfect man or woman for him, the king devised a challenge like none other.

 

With his signature weapon of choice, he built the Mountain of Ice. It was as smooth and slippery as glass.

 

He would sit upon the mountaintop, with three golden apples in his lap. The one who could ride up and snatch the three golden apples was to have his hand and half the kingdom. The king put this message on all the church doors in his realm and on the doors of many neighboring kingdoms. The king was well renowned for his intelligence and looks, everyone who saw him fell over head and ears in long with him, so many were eager to win his love, with half the kingdom being an added bonus.

 

On prancing horses, suitors came from all parts of the world, clad in the grandest attire. There wasn’t one of them who hadn’t made up his mind that it would be he who would win the king’s hand.

 

So, when the day came that was decided by the king, there was such a crowd of royalty and knights under the ice mountain that it made a person’s head spin to look at them. Everyone in the country who could move was bound for the mountain to see who would win the crown, and the two elder brothers set off with the rest. They refused to bring Barry, for they said that if they were seen with Cinderlad, all begrimed with soot from sitting in the hearth with the smoking ashes, folks would make game of them.

 

“Well,” said Barry, “it’s all one and the same to me. I can stay alone and stand or fall by myself.”

 

When the two brothers arrived at the ice mountain, the suitors were all hard at it, riding their horses till they could hardly move. But it was all for naught, for as soon as the horses set foot on the mountain, down they slipped. There wasn’t one which could get up more than a yard or two. It was to be expected, for the mountain was as slippery as a windowpane and as steep as house wall. But all were eager to win, so they rode and slipped and slipped and rode, till they grew so weary that they had to give up.

 

The princess, who was overseeing the challenge for her brother from the ground, was thinking that she would proclaim that the riding was to start over again the next day to see if anyone might have better luck, when a knight walked into the clearing.

 

The knight wore mail of copper, so bright that the sunbeams shone from it and grander than anyone had ever seen. The others called out to him that he might as well spare himself the trouble, for he didn’t even have a horse with him, but the knight paid them no heed. He started to run at the mountain, at such a speed that he was able to race up in like it was nothing.

 

However, at a third of the height of the mountain, he turned back around. The king had grown weary watching the attempts, and was intrigued by this new attempter. He had somewhat hoped that the copper knight would be the one to reach the top. King Leonard saw that the knight could have made it, and decided to throw an apple down to the knight and it rolled into his shoe.

 

The knight ran off at such a speed that no one could tell where he had gone. That evening, all of the nobility and knights were told to pass before the princess, so that he who had ridden so far up the mountain could show the apple that the king had thrown. But, one after another, no one could produce the apple.

 

In the evening, when Barry’s brothers came home, they delighted in telling the story of the ice mountain.

 

They praised the knight in shining copper, calling him one of the best fellows they had ever seen.

 

“Oh, I would have liked to see him,” said Barry, poking the ashes in the hearth.

 

“Oh,” said Eobard, “you would, wouldn’t you?” You sure do look fit to keep company with squires and lords, sitting there in the ashes like some slovenly thing.”

 

The next day, before the brothers set off again, Barry asked them to let him go with them to see the riding. But no, they wouldn’t take him with them for any reason for they felt he was too dirty and ugly to be seen with them.

 

“Well, well,” Barry said once again, “it is all one and the same to me. I can stay alone and stand or fall by myself.”

 

At the Mountain of Ice, all of nobility and knights began to ride again. They took care to keep their horses sharp, but it was no good. They rode and slipped and slipped and rode, as they had the day before and no one could get more than a yard up the mountain.

 

When the horses could finally hardly move, they were forced to give up. The princess was about to call it a day and proclaim that all could attempt again tomorrow, but she waiting a little long to see if the knight in copper mail would appear.

 

He did not, instead a far, far grander knight walked into the clearing. This knight had a coat of silver mail which was so bright that the sunshine gleamed and glanced from them far away. The others warned him not to try his luck, but the knight prepared to run anyway. And run he did, he ran two thirds of the way up the mountain.

 

The king recognized what no other could, that the silver and copper knights were one and the same. He instantly understood the game that the knight was playing, and decided that he was more than willing to play along. When the knight began to turn around, he threw the second golden apple down to the knight which went into the knight’s shoe again.

 

The knight did not stop, and ran off so fast from the Mountain of Ice that no one could tell what had become of him.

 

The princess checked each suitor for the golden apple as she had the night before, but no one had an apple to show. And the two brothers, as they had before, went home and bragged to Barry about what they had seen. They praised the silver knight, claiming to have never seen anyone grander. Barry responded again that he would have very much liked to have seen the knight.

 

“Well, he was brighter than the ashes you are poking, you ugly, dirty thing,” said Hunter.

 

On the third day, everything happened as it had the two days before. Barry asked to go and see the sight, but the two wouldn’t even hear of him going with them. At the ice mountain, there was no one who could get more than a yard up it; and everyone was waiting to see the knight in silver mail, but he was nowhere to be seen.

 

At last, a new knight walked into the clearing. He wore a golden coat of mail, brighter and grander than anything anyone had ever seen, including the king. Everyone was so amazed by his finery that they could not even open their mouths to call out to him to tell him not to try his luck. He ran right up to the ice mountain, and whirled up as light as a feather in a gust of wind. 

 

He raced up there so fast that the king had hardly realized that this knight was the same as the one from the days before. The knight stood before the king, and the king looked into his eyes before handing him the final golden apple.

 

Then, as fast as he had raced up, the knight ran back down the mountain and off out of sight in no time at all.

 

The brothers came home and told Barry over and over about the knight in the golden coat of mail.

 

“What a fine runner he was!” Eobard said. “A grander knight couldn’t be found in the whole world.”

 

When Barry said he would have liked to have seen the knight, Hunter replied, “Well, the heap of embers that you are poking at is not quite so bright and gleaming.”

 

The next day, all of the knights and princes were to pass before the king and the princess so that any who had the golden apple might show it. Only the king was aware that all three had the same owner, so there was a great deal of speculation as to what would happen if all three knights were to appear. Among all the princes and knights, no one was able to produce the golden apple.

 

“Well,” said the Princess Lisa, “someone must have it, for we saw them all being carried off with our own eyes.”

 

The king proceeded to order that everyone in his kingdom must come to his court to see if he could show the golden apple. Many men came, one after another, but none of them had a golden apple. After a long time, the two brothers appeared before the king. They were the last of all, so the king asked if there was anyone in his kingdom who hadn’t come.

 

“Well, yes,” said the brothers, “we have a brother, but he could never have carried off the golden apple. He hasn’t stirred from the ashes of the hearth on any of the three days.”

 

“Regardless,” said the king. “All others have appeared in my court, and so he may as well.”

 

So Barry had to step before the king. When he looked up, the king recognized his green eyes.

 

“Do you have the golden apple?” asked the king with a knowing smirk.

 

“Yes, here it the first, and here is the second, and here is the third one as well,” Barry said, and with that he pulled all of the golden apples out of his pocket. He threw off his sooty rags and stood before the court in his gleaming golden coat of mail.

 

“Yes,” said the king, “you shall have my hand and half my kingdom, for you well deserve both.”

 

So they got ready for the wedding, and Barry became the king’s husband. The bridal feast was very merry, for all were happy at such a great match even if they weren’t capable of riding up the Mountain of Ice. Barry and Leonard sealed their union with a kiss, marking the beginning of their happy life together.

 


End file.
